Thursday, September 9, 2010

A nifty new display shelf

Several years ago, I received a wooden case of Browne & Ashley tea as a Christmas gift. The tea itself was not very good and I ended up using most of it to tea dye lace, but I kept the wooden case figuring I might find a use for it one day. I'm always trying to figure out how to get more things organized in my small craft room, and one day it occurred to me I could mount this on the wall and use it to hold some lightweight items. Today, it serves as the happy home for my tea-themed rubber stamps!

I never had the urge to display any of these rubber stamps until tea friend Frivolitea and I met over the summer and she gifted me with some beautiful new tea-themed stamps, including this one on the right, which I am looking forward to using to make invitations for future tea parties. Above it is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) I made using the other stamp.

This stamp with the definition of tea is next to a tea-loving Dreamsicle figurine, which I believe just may be the one and only tea figurine I own!

Here are some smaller stamps, including two tiny ones that friends were kind enough to give me.

This lovely teaspoon stamp gets a place of honor next to one of my most favorite things. That blue polyester teddy bear was stitched by my sister when she was a very little girl, and would you believe it is one of my most prized possessions? I mean, I would part with my entire Royal Winton Welbeck tea service before I'd let you have that bear! When I taught middle schoolers in Sunday School years ago, I always enjoyed taking that teddy bear in and asking them to write down a description of it. Inevitably, they would try to outdo each other by saying how ugly they thought it was, and one kid gave the memorable description, "Its eye is in its ear." Then, of course, I'd share how this was made for me by my sister when she was very young, and again I'd ask the kids to describe it knowing what they know now. They would say things like "sweet" and "pretty," and I would explain that this is how God sees us, that He looks not on the outside but on the heart. And that doesn't have anything to do with tea, really, but I thought someone investigating the photo might just wonder about the teddy bear!

8 comments:

You have created a wonderful little nook for your craft room! Your little teddy bear is absolutely charming, and I love your Sunday School story...that little bear must certainly have taught the children a great deal about God's Love! Thank you for sharing that precious memory...Cassandra ♥

I love it! Love of all of your tea themed items and the teddy bear story brought first an "ohhhh" and then teared up eyes when I read the lesson on God's love. How precious. If it's okay with you I will share it with our Sunday School. You are truly a beautiful person Angela.

Dear Angela, What a lovely post today! Your tea themed shelf is so neat and a great idea of re-using something. I love the way you arranged the tea items, your photo could be in a catalogue - and we'd buy everything.

And the teddy bear, made by your sister - I cried when I read it. And the fact that you brought teddy in for Sunday school lessons, making the point about God's love, very touching. You are a truly remarkable person. Thanks for brightening my day,Joanie

It sounds like you were a great Sunday School teacher. I understand how the bear can be so precious. My sister gave me an inexpensive little butterfly pin when she was just a little girl. She wanted to cheer me up when I was ill. I still treasure my pin over forty years later.